Singapore still lagging behind in gender diversity among board directors: Grace Fu

SINGAPORE – Six out of 10 companies in Singapore have all-male boards, and only 8 per cent of board directors in the country are women. This puts Singapore behind its Asian neighbours, like Hong Kong (9 per cent) and Indonesia (11 per cent).

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Grace Fu gave these statistics at the PAP Women’s Wing’s annual conference today (Feb 8), saying that efforts over the past year to get companies to improve gender diversity on their boards have been slow.

“We’re not happy with the progress,” said Ms Fu.

“For a company to say that I value women as employees is one thing. But when there’re no board appointments, it sends the wrong signal to women working in that company.”

PAP Women’s Wing has no plans to push for legislation for now, but Ms Fu said she was not ruling out the possibility in future.

The Women’s Wing also presented a position paper focusing on seniors in Singapore.

The 15-page paper calls on the government to legislate elder care leave amongst a slew of other health-care, housing, and employment improvements for seniors.

Presenting the paper at the Women’s Wing’s second annual conference, MP Ellen Lee said it focuses on elderly women’s needs, especially those above 55.

But the recommendations, she said, apply to both men and women. CHANNEL NEWSASIA